Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae Volume 34 Number 2, December 2008http://hdl.handle.net/10500/42162015-08-02T22:50:39Z2015-08-02T22:50:39ZThe crisis of the church of Sweden Mission among the Zulus during the 1880sHale, Frederickhttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/45402014-04-23T17:05:52Z2008-01-01T00:00:00ZThe crisis of the church of Sweden Mission among the Zulus during the 1880s
Hale, Frederick
After the destruction of its original station at Oscarsberg near
Rorke’s Drift in the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879, the Church of
Sweden Mission gradually developed its programme of
evangelism and social ministry under the leadership of Otto
Witt during the 1880s. However, Witt underwent a spiritual
crisis and gradually became disillusioned with the missionary
strategy of his Lutheran agency. His criticism of its emphasis
on establishing mission stations and their schools went handin-
hand with his increasing focus on itinerant evangelism, the
imminent Second Advent of Jesus Christ, and a de-emphasis of
educational work that ran counter to the Lutheran
confessionalism of the Church of Sweden Mission. This
brought Witt into conflict with its leadership, causing an
internal crisis and eventually leading to his departure from this
Lutheran organisation. Despite this setback, it weathered the
storm and emerged from it with new initiatives leading to inter
alia an emphasis on ministry to urbanised Zulus in Natal and,
eventually, on the Witwatersrand.
Peer reviewed
2008-01-01T00:00:00Z"Good mission policy is good state policy in South Africa?" The influence of the Tomlinson Report on racial separation in church and state at the dawn of apartheidSaayman, Willemhttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/45362014-04-23T17:43:46Z2008-01-01T00:00:00Z"Good mission policy is good state policy in South Africa?" The influence of the Tomlinson Report on racial separation in church and state at the dawn of apartheid
Saayman, Willem
The author studies the development of the single, multiracial
Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) into a “family” of 10 racially
separated churches, especially in the light of the findings of the
Tomlinson Report, published in 1955. The Commission wanted
to bring the relationship between mission policy and state
policy in South Africa (SA) into line with (and indeed under
control of) the apartheid policy of the National Party. The
author concludes that the DRC instituted the first racially
separated church in 1881 on the basis of the practical situation
whereby black and white members had grown into separate
congregations as a result of the 1857 decision. In the 1940s and
1950s an ideological-theological justification started developing
based on German missiological thinking as articulated
especially by Keysser and Gutmann. The author finds that the
Tomlinson Commission based their findings and recommendations
on a mistaken view of African Christianity in South
Africa at that time. The findings of the Tomlinson Report did,
however, seem to confirm the ideological development taking
place, thus strengthening the hand of those wishing to introduce
a theological justification for racially separated churches
ex post facto. As a result serious damage was done to the credibility
of the Church and Christian mission in South Africa.
Peer reviewed
2008-01-01T00:00:00ZFrom the periphery to the centre : the radical transformation of Pentecostal-charismatic Christianity in the 20th centuryAmanze, Jameshttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/45312014-04-23T15:44:05Z2008-01-01T00:00:00ZFrom the periphery to the centre : the radical transformation of Pentecostal-charismatic Christianity in the 20th century
Amanze, James
This article examines the radical transformation of the Pentecostal-charismatic
movement in the 20th century and how it has moved from the periphery of the Christian
faith to the centre. It is argued in the article that although Pentecostal-charismatic
movements were frowned upon in the past, there was a change of heart towards this form
of Christianity in the 20th century. From its humble beginnings in the United States of
America in the 1900s, Pentecostal-charismatic Christianity is now a global movement
with followers both outside of the mainline churches and within the mission churches
such as the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and other churches throughout the world.
Pentecostal-charismatic movements are here to stay and have become a fourth force in
Christendom, thereby becoming a religious power to be reckoned with.
Peer reviewed
2008-01-01T00:00:00ZFarm ministries in the Hoedspruit area : past and presentLandman, Christinahttp://hdl.handle.net/10500/45302014-04-23T17:06:04Z2008-01-01T00:00:00ZFarm ministries in the Hoedspruit area : past and present
Landman, Christina
Missionary work came late to the eastern Lowveld, and
specifically to the areas today known as Hoedspruit, Acornhoek
and Bushbuckridge. The twentieth century saw the Swiss
(Evangelical Presbyterian Church) and the Germans (Lutheran
Church) doing missionary work in the eastern Lowveld, with
the Roman Catholics making an entry through Mozambique.
The Dutch Reformed Church began missionary work in the
Hoedspruit/Acornhoek/Bushbuckridge area in the 1950s. At
present, however, these and other mainline churches have all
but disappeared from the religious scene among farm workers
in the area, and among black Christians, indigenous churches
with a focus on healing ministries are dominant. This article
traces the history of Christian ministries among farm workers
in the eastern Lowveld, with particular emphasis on the
Hoedspruit area. It focuses on developments since the Tomlinson
Report of the 1950s led to the renewal of missionary work
in the broader South Africa, including this area. Against this
historical backdrop, the religious identity of farm workers in
the Hoedspruit area is described with the help of a recent
research project on the religious discourses that inform the way
in which farm workers in this area – among whom there is a
28.8% prevalence of HIV infection – perceive illness and
healing. Reasons for the departure of farm workers from the
historically mission churches in favour of indigenous churches
with pronounced healing ministries are identified.
Peer reviewed
2008-01-01T00:00:00Z